House Bill 1505 hearing: clearance-rate reporting, phone cost cap and prison workforce measures discussed

Representative Chad Perkins, sponsor of House Bill 15-05, told the Commerce Committee the measure contains multiple provisions intended to affect criminal justice and corrections operations, including collection and publication of criminal clearance rates, limits on restraints for children and pregnant people, electronic medical records access for people leaving prison, limits on county-jail phone-call charges, and a hospice-care training curriculum for incarcerated people.

“First, it has clearance rates in it … clearance rates, of course, would be good for crime reporting statistics,” Perkins said. He said the bill would make those data accessible and that law enforcement stakeholders had expressed interest. Witnesses who testified in support — including Matthew Charles (state legislative affairs manager for FAM, a national nonprofit) and Alex Eaton of Action Now — told the committee the bill would require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to collect and publish clearance-rate data; Charles cited testimony that “over 62% of violent crimes are not solved in the state of Missouri.”

Other provisions Perkins described included:

- Access to electronic copies of medical records for incarcerated people at release or their designated personal representative; Perkins said this is intended to aid reentry. - A hospice-care training curriculum to provide a licensure pathway while incarcerated, with workforce-development goals after release. - A cap on county-jail telephone charges; a witness said the bill would cap calls at 12 cents per minute. - Limitations on use of restraints for children and pregnant people in custody; Perkins said language is consistent with prior related bills and could be amended if law enforcement articulates safety concerns.

Committee members asked technical and drafting questions. Representative Kimball asked whether the clearance-rate reporting includes enforcement or penalties for noncompliance; Perkins said he did not know of an enforcement penalty in current draft and deferred to witnesses. Representative Miller asked why hospice training was included; Perkins said the program fills a workforce need and mirrors federal prison programs. Representative Sites asked why the bill came to the Commerce Committee; Perkins said he does not control bill referrals and argued the committee’s membership provides a diverse review. Several members raised operational questions about how “phone services” are provided in correctional settings now (some facilities use secure tablets for communication) and whether the bill’s phone-language would need future tweaking to reflect technology.

Witnesses in support characterized the bill as promoting transparency, reentry and reduced recidivism. Matthew Charles described aspects of the bill that his organization supports — clearance-rate reporting, limits on restraints, the personal-representative provision, medical-record access, hospice training and a 12¢-per-minute cap on calls — and said the measure also would require independent inquiries for certain in-custody deaths. Alex Eaton told the committee the clearance-rate language aims to make data that should already be captured available to the public and cited a 2023 figure shared in testimony about unsolved violent crimes.

The committee heard no recorded vote on HB 15-05 during the session; the bill moved into the public-testimony record with witnesses presenting in favor and no recorded opposition on the transcript.